Research Paper on "Causes of War and the Conduct of Warfare"

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Clausewitz / Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

No one starts a war -- or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so -- without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war… (Clausewitz).

War is an act of violence intended to compel our enemy to fulfill our will, according to Carl von Clausewitz, and it is "not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse, carried on with other means." Clausewitz's study Vorn Kriege (on War) (1976) established numerous maxims on war; however, the idea that war is a political instrument and is used to carry on "political intercourse" as well as Clausewitz's other theories on war illustrated in on War, provides a useful intellectual framework through which to examine Operation Barbarossa -- Hitler's German invasion of Soviet Russia on June 22, 1941. This paper will examine how Operation Barbarossa was a political instrument and in what ways Hitler used the operation as political intercourse and how Clausewitz's theories on war can aid in understanding the cause and effect nature of war with special emphasis put on Clausewitz's ideas about the factors of chance in war.

June 22, 1941 -- a day that Hitler predicted would cause the world to hold its breath: Operation Barbarossa. A mass of 3 million German soldiers (Ziemke (203) estimates 3,050,000 men; Stokesburg (314) estimates the total size of the Allied Expeditionary Force assembled in England for the Normandy invasion at 2,876,000 and Napoleon assembled at least 450,000 in June 1812 for the invasion of Russia. Thus, Operation Barbarossa was on a much grander s

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cale than Clausewitz could ever have predicted), more than half a million vehicles and over 3,000 tanks were lined up along a 1,500-mile stretch from the Baltic to the Black Sea. It is considered one of the greatest military machines every put together in the history of war. Some think that Hitler was obsessed with a Russian invasion as he wrote in Mein Kampf over 15 years prior, "We terminate the endless German drive to the south and the west of Europe, and direct our gaze towards the lands in the east…if we talk about new soil and territory in Europe today, we can think primarily only of Russia and its vassal border states" (Copeland 124). Hitler was worried about the Russians turning on him and his 1939 pact with Stalin was meant to give Hitler the time Germany needed to prepare for war -- thus, Operation Barbarossa took the U.S.S.R. By complete surprise, which is somewhat confounding as Stalin was given warning of the invasion. There is no doubt either that Germany's military strategy was seriously flawed as there were so many goals and three main targets rather than one and the front was simply too big to traverse.

Hitler signed Directive Number 21 on December 18, 1940 -- known as Operation Barbarossa. The first sentence of the plan was quite frank: "The German armed forces must be ready before the end of the war against Great Britain to defeat the Soviet Union by means of Blitzkrieg" (i.e. bombardment) (Copeland 120). Looking at this first defining sentence from through Clausewitz's reasoning, defeat of the Soviet Union is the sole mission -- and to defeat fully, the enemy must be disarmed, and disarmament becomes therefore the immediate object of hostilities in theory" (Clausewitz & Maude 2). Therefore the planning of this disarmament needs to be considered as it had an enormous planning stage. Hitler's rationale for turning against his Russian ally in Stalin must also be examined as well as the way he used political discourse in the Non-Aggressive Pact as a means to an end -- invasion.

Josef Stalin was sufficiently forewarned about Germany's invasion, which makes it confusing, as noted, to comprehend how Operation Barbarossa could have been deemed as a surprise. "Rapacious Panzer Groups, supported overhead by the Luftwaffe, recorded daily advances of 30 and 40 miles. The bulk of the Wehrmacht marched on foot behind, closing off pockets of many hundreds of thousands of Red Army captives" (Kirchubel 1). The Panzer group were to carve up Russia, "the slower moving infantry and artillery were to force their surrender" (Clark 46). Hitler didn't want to fight in the cities; the battle of France was won by striking for the Channel rather than Paris, after all.

There is reason to believe that the operation was the end result of a long adopted program for expansion into Russia. Clausewitz believes that there are two motivations for war: instinctive hostility and hostile intention (Clausewitz & Maude 3), however, he tends to lean toward hostile intention as the main motivator as it is the most general. Operation Barbarossa was an extreme act of force replete with a prolonged period of planning and since it is an act of force -- it therefore also belongs to feelings, in Clausewitz's definition. He says:

If it does not originate in the feelings, it reacts more or less, upon them, and the extent of this reaction depends not on the degree of civilization, but upon the importance and duration of the interests involved. Therefore, if we find civilized nations do not put their prisoners to death, do not devastate towns and countries, this is because their intelligence exercises greater influence on their mode of carrying on War, and has taught them more effectual means of applying force than these rude acts of mere instinct (Clausewitz & Maude 4).

Operation Barbarossa was Hitler's surprise message of violence, as it tried to fulfill its will of defeating Russia before it could defeat Germany, dictating its laws onto Russia, which ignited a reciprocal action, which then, of course, led to extreme fighting (i.e., war). Before this, Germany and Russia were diplomatically on friendly terms as they had signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (otherwise referred to as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) a bit before Germany and the Soviet's invasion of Poland. In fact, the pact was a bit of a shock to most of the world as the two nations had opposing ideologies and mutual hostility toward one another; however, the pact heralded a new degree of cooperation between the two nations, while the secret agreement on spheres of influences in Easter Europe and Finland had the important ramification of ensuring security for Germany's eastern border (Stahel 33). For Hitler, the pact meant very little and it was simply a means to an end -- appease Russia until Germany is ready to attack and then go forth with its ideas taking over the Soviet Union. The pact was a short-term pact in their overall plot to take over Russia. Clausewitz believes that in order to understand the true nature of war, one must be able to understand the tension between moral and physical forces. One cannot have a pragmatic theory for the conduct of war unless one can understand the association between ends and means; "in particular the political end of war and the military means used to attain it" (Howard 34-5). This brings us to Clausewitz's theory -- that was, in fact, one of his last and probably most important: "war was nothing but the continuation of policy with other means" -- or more explicitly, "simply the continuation of policy with the admixture of other means" (36).

Operation Barbarossa with its ferocious army and massive machinery attempted to put Russia into an oppressive position. This is an attempt at discourse via violent means and Germany -- as Clausewitz would say -- was trying to put Russia into an position where Russian would be forced to succumb to Germany's forces; yet what Hitler did not expect was that Russia would hold out rather than yield. Clausewitz states that "as long as the enemy is not defeated, he may defeat me; then I shall no longer be my own master; he will dictate the law to me as I did to him" (5). The fact that Russia was more prepared than Germany thought her to be is an archetypal example of Clausewitz's theories about war and how the offensive side must know the strength of the defensive side. The enemy force in the case of Russia was much stronger than Hitler could have imagined. By mid-July, however, the message was coming across loud and clear and Russia wasn't exhausted by Germany's attack, which was gradually waning in strength. "Far from shattering the Soviet front in the main operation towards Smolensk, the Soviet forces reeling under the German onslaught were now being aided by new Soviet armies moving up from the east (Stahel 261).

Clausewitz says that if we want to defeat an enemy, then the coarse of action has got to be in proportion to the efforts in relation to the defense's powers of resistance (Clausewitz & Maude 5). This is expressed by the product of two distinct elements that can never be divided: "the sum of available means and the strength of the Will" (5). The sum… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Causes of War and the Conduct of Warfare" Assignment:

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From its inception to the present day, the field of international relations has made the study of war its central concern. In fact, one of the primary reasons for developing the field of international relations was that no other academic discipline made the study of war its central focus. There are a number of valid reasons for studying war, but perhaps most important is the fact that states and non-state actors frequently engage in inter- and intra-state wars. The twentieth century, for example, has been described as the most murderous in recorded history with almost 190 million battle-related deaths. Moreover, although the character of war and warfare is changing, the twenty-first century has thus far not been particularly peaceful. With this in mind, the central objective of this paper ( specific instructions below) implement a number of important theoretical perspectives on the origins and conduct of wars and warfare.

This paper should apply theories of the causes of war or the conduct of warfare to actual cases of conflict to: 1. help explain why/how a war occurred; 2. help explain why/how a war played out the way it did; or 3. test the theories to see if their predictions about why/how wars should happen or why/how wars should play out held up in a particular case or cases. Therefore, students are expected to apply theories and theoretical concepts in their papers. These may include, but are not limited to, those sent by email. The Theories sent my email may be counted as 3 SOURCES, BUT NOT MORE . May the ***** be kind enough to message me a clear identification of the topic that is to be addressed.

It would best to focus your paper on one particular country involved in each of these wars (particularly a country that was involved right from the outset). So, for example, instead of asking *****why did World War I occur?*****, it would be better to ask *****why did Germany decide to participate in World War I?***** I*****m sure you*****ll be able to find plenty of information on how a particular leader or government decided to go to war in either of these conflicts, which will allow you to apply or test one of the theory*****s we*****re going to cover in the course.

The one exception to this suggestion is, though, if you*****re applying a systemic level theory like, say, balance of power theory, which tends to discuss the actions of entire groups of states (like the members of one or more alliances) than you would, naturally, need to focus on several countries in your paper. Most of the theories in the course are, however, meant to be applied to one leader or one government at a time.

You MUST use 12 sources or more and all your sources should be cited and be PEER REVIEWED SCHOLARLY JOURNALS. 4 or 5 of your sources can be books. Please integrate the use of all your sources. Don*****'t rely on just two or three peer reviewed journals for example. Spread them out. Provide a bibliography and use the Chicago citation method.

The paper must begin with a Thesis Statement (1-2 paragraphs) stating (1) your topic and (2) how you intend to structure your discussion. Stay on track and don*****'t wander. Provide evidence and argument, and avoid vague opinion. Summarize and provide your analysis- that is, explain what is significant about what you have written. When writing, and especially when editing the paper, keep checking to ensure that your arguments answer your stated research question and that your evidence supports your arguments. Clarity and internal consistency are the most important characteristics are important here. It is important to make sure that you aren*****t trying to do too much. In general, depth is better than breadth because it allows you to demonstrate much more detailed and thorough knowledge of your topic. Use headings and subheadings where appropriate. Moreover, the term paper must cite every source upon which you rely for quotations, or specific factual material. Please provide a bibliography or list of works consulted. Don*****'t rely on just two or three peer reviewed journals for example. Spread them out. ALL YOUR SOURCES HAVE TO BE CITED AND BE PEER REVIEWED SCHOLARLY JOURNALS. IF THIS NOT FOUND, THE PAPER WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. If you need specific journals, I can access them for you. Just send me a message. Do not use multiple quotations as this is analysis paper not a Lit paper.

Thank you

*****

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